The Hidden Heir

08. Date

The constant ringing of the phone was so loud, that he felt like it might pierce through his skull.
Emir sat on his bed, staring at the table, where the phone was placed. The ringing stopped for a moment, only to begin all over again.
He knows that he needs to pick up the call. He needs to report. Yet, his fingers refused to move.
He will be in trouble if he doesn't answer it immediately. His brain and heart was running miles per hour. His dark eyes gazed into the unknown future, at the thought of what might happen when he disobeyed.
The ringing stopped and he waited for more, but it did not ring again, leaving the house in complete silence. He scrunched his eyebrows, intently waiting for it to start ringing again.
But the silence prolonged, and somehow, the silence was more louder than the sound of the rings. It left his brain in mess, and shivers ran down his spine at the thought of how he might have f*cked up.

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Scattered clothes laid sprawled out all over the bed. Some on the floor, and some stuffed back into the wardrobe with annoyance.
Eda huffed, and slouched on the couch, lips pouting upsetly, "I don't have anything nice to wear", she mumbled to herself, crossing her arms across her chest. It was almost close to evening, and Eda was anxious. She had never been with anyone, let alone go out to dinner, alone with someone so intimidating.
She let her head fall back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, how did she agree to this?
The guy was clearly filled with mysteries and secrets. Thinking about him, let her to the images of his dark eyes, his tattooed arms and she groaned as she felt her cheeks getting warm.
'Why does that not scare me off?', she thought, as she got up and chose a dress that she thought she would wear when she usually goes out.
And not to impress anyone else.

Emir stood at the front door of Eda's, and took a deep breath before knocking. Few seconds later, the door opened to a smiling Eda, looking stunning in her dark navy blue dress that accentuated her curves beautifully.
"Hi", she greeted him nervously.
His dark eyes softened at her smile, "you look beautiful", was the first thing he could utter, in his deep voice, lost in Eda's Beauty.
Eda's cheeks blushed to a beautiful shade of pink and she bit her lower lips. She could also feel a bit of hesitation in herself, with all those unanswered doubts in her head.
She inhaled deeply and looked up at him, "So, shall we get going?", she asked.
"Whenever you are ready"
"Let me just grab my keys and coat", Eda quickly ran in, and came back, locking her doors.
"Let's go", she grinned, putting on her coat.
Emir shook his head a little and smiled "In a hurry, are we?", he asked, looking at her.
She shook her head and said, "no", smiling back and they both began to walk up to the town.

The sun had set, and the streets were lit with lights, and they both walked side by side, close enough to feel each other's warmth. There was a comfortable silence between them, and neither felt like breaking it.
They passed by a field of flowers, and Eda stretched her hands and her fingers brushed along the petals of the beautiful evening primrose.
"Don't...", she heard a deep voice close to her ears. She turned to look at him, raising her eyebrows in question.
"It's dark... There might be some bugs that could bite..", he said and stopped to carefully pick out a single pretty primrose.
He turned and handed it to Eda, looking into her green orbs. Eda was so lost for words at his gesture, she blushed and took the flower from him, content and warmth filling, all over her.
She heard Emir sighing loudly, and looked up to meet his intense gaze upon her, "I wish I could paint you like this someday...", he whispered softly, "you are just breathtakingly beautiful Eda".
Eda's heart was beating erratically in her chest, from Emir's words, and she feared it might burst out when Emir took a step closer, and gently tucked in her hair, behind her ears.
And Eda's eyes caught a glimpse of his tattoos.
Images of those same dark inks, from that puzzling night flashed across her mind, and suddenly all the giddiness and flutterings in her tummy, twisted into an unknown fear.
She quickly took a step away from him, and looked down.
Emir's eyebrows scrunched a little, but he put his hands in his pocket and cleared his throat, "so, have you decided where we could go to eat?"
Eda managed to push her fear away and looked up at him. She found herself strange, as to how and why she still wanted to go out with him.
"I really like this place, near the lake. It has a beautiful view.. You can see the moon, and the stars, reflecting so beautifully in the water. It has always made me feel like I'm in a dream. I hope you would like it too." she said, smiling at him.
He smiled back at her, "I am sure I would!"
"Don't worry, the food is really good too," Eda teased.
Emir let out a small laugh "Lead the way my lady"
They both laughed and started to walk again, with Eda leading the way and reached the restaurant near the lake.
The place was small, yet it was beautifully designed and decorated, with candles and soft lights and plants and paintings ... The back door leading to the lake Eda mentioned about, with more tables and benches placed to best view the lake and the moon with its starry night.
"Can we sit outside?" Eda asked and Emir nodded immediately "sure!"
They both sat opposite to each other with Eda facing the waters, and Emir looking at Eda.
"It's really pretty", Eda commented looking at the view.
"It really is", Emir replied, his gaze not wavering from Eda's face.
They both ordered their food and began to enjoy the taste as well, with a comfortable and easy silence between the two.
Somewhere between their dinner, Eda's mind drifted back to her curious doubts and glanced at Emir's hands.
Unlike the previous night's dinner, his tattoos were hidden behind that leather jacket but Eda knew what they looked like. She put down her fork and took a sip of water.
"Does it hurt to get a tattoo?"
Emir looked up to see Eda's gaze upon his arms, and he looked down to see his dark inks, peaking out of his jacket.
He pushed the sleeves further up, revealing more of those lines and flowers intertwining together.
"It does!", he answered her question with a small smile.
"Then why do you get it?"
"Sometimes... it's good to feel the pain.."
Eda looked a little confused at his words..
Emir chuckled at her reaction, "pain helps to keep me grounded sometimes... Also I admire art. And I have always thought that tattoos are a unique way of expressing one's emotions. It's etched on their body forever, constantly reminding them of the reasons and stories behind those painful dark inks. They are pieces of fascinating art, which could tell a million stories all over the world".
"So what is your story behind them?", Eda asked curiously, pointing towards his arms.
Emir smiled and looked at her, "perhaps... it's a story for another time...?!"
Eda pursed her lips and nodded. She wanted to know more about them, more about him.
More importantly, she felt desperate to know if he was in their room, secretly, while she was sleeping.
But how could she ever ask him that? It felt ridiculous to her own head. But she knew he was there, in the darkness of the night, watching over her sleeping form.
She suddenly felt insecure, with all the looming questions in her head and she wanted to go back home, "Can we go home after this? I have to work tomorrow "
"Of course", Emir answered with a disheartened tone.

Soon, they both were walking back to Eda's place, with Eda being all quiet and far away in her own thoughts.
They reached her place and Emir couldn't stand the silence anymore. So he gently reached out to hold the tip of her fingers, halting each other's steps.
Eda turned to look into the dark brown eyes of Emir's, "Eda, is something bothering you?", his deep voice was laced with concern.
Eda couldn't reply to him. How could she ask if he was stalking her, or if he was spying on her? What if all this was just a mere dream?
She looked down and shook her head, "no..", she answered softly.
Emir's hold on her fingers reached to hold her hand, as his other hand reached up to caress lightly on her cheeks. Eda closed her eyes at his warm and soft touch.
"I can tell, you want to say something. It's okay. You can tell me anything".
His deep voice assured her racing heart. She slowly turned her eyes to look back at him, "I-I just d-don't know how to say", she took a long breath.
Emir waited for her to continue, gazing into those dark emerald orbs.
"I h-have seen your t-tattoos before. Somewhere it should not have been", Eda began hesitantly. Emir frowned at her words,
What was she talking about?
"The other night, in Layla's house, while I was sleeping.. I saw your hands, these tattoos... brushing my hairs away, during my sleep..."
Emir's hands froze on Eda's cheeks, and she looked up at him with questioning eyes, "Was it really you?"
Emir's eyes darked even more. He could feel his nervousness creeping up to his neck.
He pulled his hands away from Eda's face and looked away. His face was morphed into annoyance and anger.
He turned to look back at Eda,who was waiting hopefully for an answer.
But before he could say anything, his peripheral vision caught on to something behind Eda and he quickly went to examine it.
Eda looked confused for a moment, but she followed Emir to her front door.
Her eyes widened in surprise, to see that her front doors were opened ajar. The locks, broken and hanging down the door.
She gasped and covered her mouth, her beautiful green eyes, welled up in fear.
Emir held both her shoulders and turned her towards him, "Hey.. look at me, it's OK..I'm right here.. ", he tried to divert her fear.
And he could feel her trembling shoulders, relaxing down a bit as she stared into his eyes.
His eyebrows scrunched together, contemplating on what he should do. Whether he should go inside and check, leaving her out, to stand alone, by herself, or to bring her along, into something, which could potentially be a bait, for he knew, exactly, who would dare to break into her house.